BMW Art Car Exhibition - 01/24/2002
Pop Art Pioneer Robert Rauschenberg to Appear at First Ever Unified Installation of Famed BMW Art Car and "Beamer" Enameled Aluminum Collages
 NAPLES, FL, January 24, 2001 (BMW of North America Inc.) - Legendary American artist Robert Rauschenberg will inaugurate the first-ever combined exhibition of his BMW 635 CSi Art Car and iconoclastic "Beamer" collage series at the Eckert Fine Art private gallery in Naples, Florida. The exhibition, which opens January 30 and runs through February 10, marks the first BMW Art Car collection appearance in the United States since the debut of the Jenny Holzer Art Car in September 2000 in Atlanta. This marks the first time that the "Beamer" series will be publicly exhibited; and the car and spin-off paintings - which extend the Art Car motifs - have never appeared together as part of a unified installation until now.
The BMW Art Car was conceived in 1975, the year that French auctioneer and racecar driver Herve Poulain first entered 24 Hours of Le Mans. Searching for a link between art and motorsport, Poulain asked his friend, noted artist, Alexander Calder to commission a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL that he would race. In the years that followed, this unique combination of motorsport and BMW design fascinated the famous artists of our time. Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol have all turned BMW racing cars into Art Cars.
 The Rauschenberg BMW 635 CSi Art Car - the sixth addition to BMW's collection of 15 Art Cars - is the first in which the artist used photographic methods to transfer images (including images of famous, classical paintings) to the car. Rauschenberg extended his use of Art Car motifs in his six-part, 1988 "Beamer" series - presented as transparent films on enameled aluminum and using his trademark collage techniques. The paintings will be offered for sale from the artist's private collection.
"We are absolutely thrilled to exhibit the BMW Rauschenberg Art Car along with the original "Beamer" collage series inspired by the car," said Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO, BMW of North America, LLC. "Robert Rauschenberg's innovative synthesis of art and automobile represents the pioneering spirit which BMW treasures."
 The Rauschenberg car made its first appearance in 1986 at the BMW Gallery on Park Avenue in New York City, and in 1988 made its European debut in West Berlin. Since then it has been exhibited across Europe and was a centerpiece of the acclaimed 1997 Rauschenberg retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
"We are proud to play a part in reuniting Robert Rauschenberg with the BMW Art Car he painted in 1986 and to offer for acquisition for the first time the six unique paintings entitled "Beamer", said Mindy Taylor Wilson, Director of Contemporary Art, Eckert Fine Art. "The opportunity to work with BMW in telling the story of their collaboration with Rauschenberg has shown us that BMW is truly an innovative and creative company who shares in the passion of the international language of fine art."
Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925, Rauschenberg is recognized as one of the 20th century's most influential and prolific artists. He is credited with bridging the gap between the movements of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. A pioneer of the "Transfer Drawing" process, he experimented in technologically sophisticated combinations of photographs and drawings. As such, his trademark BMW Art Car design includes trompe l'oeil images of Bronzino's 16th century painting "Portrait of Young Man" and Ingres's "Odalisque."
Chronological list of all BMW Art Cars:
Alexander Calder (USA) 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL
Frank Stella (USA) 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL
Roy Lichtenstein (USA) 1977 BMW 320i Group 5 Race Version
Andy Warhol (USA) 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 Race Version
Ernst Fuchs (Austria) 1982 BMW 635 CSi
Robert Rauschenberg (USA) 1986 BMW 635 CSi
Michael Jagamara Nelson (Australia) 1989 BMW 635 CSi
Ken Done (Australia) 1989 BMW M3 Group A Race Version
Matazo Kayama (Japan) 1990 BMW 535i
César Manrique (Spain) 1990 BMW 730i
A.R. Penck (Germany) 1991 BMW Z1
Esther Mahlangu (South Africa) 1991 BMW 525i
Sandro Chia (Italy) 1992 BMW 3 Series Racing Prototype
David Hockney (Great Britain) 1995 BMW 850CSi
Jenny Holzer (USA) 1999 BMW V12 LMR
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